The scary bug was bringing back photos that users thought they had gotten rid of. In some cases, the deleted pictures were more than a decade old.
This was strange, considering after a photo is deleted, you only have 30 days to restore it before it’s permanently deleted.
On top of that, some users said that deleted photos reappeared even though they didn’t use iCloud, making some wonder if the photos were being restored from on-board storage. In a now-deleted Reddit post, one user even said that the update caused their photos to pop up on an iPad they had wiped and sold to a friend.
Apple has released iOS 17.5.1 and iPadOS 17.5.1 to fix the issue. In the release note for the update, Apple says that database corruption caused deleted photos to show up in the Photos library.
This update provides important bug fixes and addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted.
To download the update, go to Settings, tap on General, navigate to Software Update, and then download the update.
While the bug was undoubtedly worrisome, it’s commendable that Apple swiftly took care of it and released a new update within a week of releasing iOS 17.5. If you don’t want old photos to come back to haunt you, you should download the update right away.